1.24.2006
magdalen
So I've been depping (substituting) for a member of the Magdalen College Choir. I depped twice last week (Saturday and Sunday) and will again this week (Thursday and Saturday). The Magdalen Choir is very English. It's what you normally might conjure up when you think of an Oxford choir: boy sopranos in blazers during rehearsal and then everyone in crimson cassocks and flowing white surplices. Bowing to acknowledge the altar, the fancy footwork of entering and leaving the stalls in groups of three, and a spectacular sound! It's been a privilege.
I sing at Magdalen College every week anyway - with Magdala, the mixed group. We sing on Tuesdays when the Magdalen Choir has a day off. We sang tonight, as it was a Tuesday, and it was amazing.
As it turns out, today is the feast day of St. Francis de Sales, who was the Catholic bishop in Geneva. The priest's daily collect today was particularly odd. First, he introduced St. Francis de Sales as a bishop who preached against John Calvin and the Calvinist movement. Then he said that as part of the Week of Christian Unity, let us now pray for all those who fight against evil and sin. I wasn't aware that Calvinists were sinners outright.
I sing at Magdalen College every week anyway - with Magdala, the mixed group. We sing on Tuesdays when the Magdalen Choir has a day off. We sang tonight, as it was a Tuesday, and it was amazing.
As it turns out, today is the feast day of St. Francis de Sales, who was the Catholic bishop in Geneva. The priest's daily collect today was particularly odd. First, he introduced St. Francis de Sales as a bishop who preached against John Calvin and the Calvinist movement. Then he said that as part of the Week of Christian Unity, let us now pray for all those who fight against evil and sin. I wasn't aware that Calvinists were sinners outright.
